County chamber pitches 'Sensor Valley' and asks Ferguson Township for support

Representatives of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County on March 18 told the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors they seek municipal backing as the chamber moves to implement a countywide economic development strategy.

Zach Moore, a Ferguson Township resident and chair of CBICC’s Government Affairs Committee, opened the presentation and introduced Greg Scott, who the transcript identifies as the chamber’s president and CEO. Moore said the county plan is timely as Ferguson develops a local economic strategy.

Scott told the board the chamber functions as the county’s economic development organization and has grown its membership "to over 740 members as part of our chamber." He described four priority areas: business retention and expansion; targeting industry clusters — particularly sensor‑network technology, which the chamber described as an opportunity to brand the region as "Sensor Valley"; workforce and education to meet projected population growth; and the built and natural environment, including tourism and airport area development.

Scott also outlined near‑term initiatives: a Center County job fair planned for May, a procurement webinar with Penn State, a proposed venture studio to support entrepreneurs, and a joint application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration to support the sensor cluster. He asked municipalities to consider supporting the plan through a letter, proclamation or resolution and pointed supervisors to centercountyforward.com for the full plan and an emerging dashboard.

Supervisors pressed for specifics about local application and data sharing. "Really quickly from your perspective, define economic development," Supervisor Patterson asked; Scott replied that the chamber views economic development broadly as community development — not only job creation and tax base growth but also infrastructure, quality of life, and workforce development. Supervisors also discussed how centercountyforward.com and CBICC newsletters would be used to share data and progress with municipalities.

The presentation identified Rockview State Correctional Institution as potential redevelopment land if the state moves forward with closure, and Scott said that could accelerate county conversations about reuse. No formal action was taken at the meeting; Scott left the board with a request that municipalities consider formal support as the chamber and county pursue the recommended initiatives.

Next steps: municipal officials can review the full strategy at centercountyforward.com and discuss whether to provide formal endorsements or to coordinate locally on workforce and housing initiatives.